Today's discussion is on book to movie adaptations! Do we love them or do we hate them?

I feel like I have seen a lot of hate lately for book to movie adaptations. Which is totally understandable. You love a book, you find out it's being made into a movie, and you're usually promptly disappointed by the changes between the two. Sometimes you're pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of events in the movie.

I personally love book to movie adaptations. There aren't very many that I go into expecting the worst. I think I have gotten good at separating the book and the movie in my head so that if the movie is disappointing as an adaptation, I can still enjoy it as a movie.

For example, I have no hope that Allegiant is going to be anything like the book. But I have hope that it could at least be a good movie. And honestly, I don't even really remember a lot of what happened anyway so I don't think that will be a big deal.

There are some pretty good movies set to come out this year that are adapted from books! Some of the ones that I'm looking forward to seeing are:

I can't wait until this one comes to the little theater in my town! I have heard nothing but good things about this one and I can't wait!

     

I actually haven't read this one, but in looking for 2016 book to movie adaptations, I stumbled across this and it sounds interesting. And if it has Emilia Clarke, Matthew Lewis, and Sam Claflin, it HAS to be good doesn't it?!

Like I mentioned before, probably won't be a great adaptation, but has the potential to be an epic movie. And I've seen the other two, I can't stop now.

     

The Jungle Book is probably going to be an EPIC live action movie, just look at that picture!!!

     

This will probably be awesome as well because look at that hunky Tarzan!

     

I cannot wait to dive back into the wizarding world with this book! This makes me kind of sad at the same time because usually my grandma takes me to movies like this every year for my birthday, but now that I live so far away from home and have a job that sucks around that time of the year, I probably won't get to go with her. :'(

Anyway...

Here are some other books that are hopefully well on their way to the big screen!

THE DARKEST MINDS! I need this one to happen! I need to add the movie cover books to my collection! Ahhhh!!

This one is gonna be good!

The trailer looks fantastic. And the guy who will be Miles Archer looks even better! 

Other honorable mentions (AKA I'm sick of uploading photos) would be Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver! Oh! And Legend by Marie Lu!!

What are your thoughts on book to movie adaptations? Are you excited for any of these ones as well?

January 2016 Wrap Up

Books Read:

Review to come! I will be posting it next month for a blog tour for the book!

Review

Review

Review to come!

Review to come!

Review to come!

Review to come!

*110% my favorite book of the month!!!*

Review to come!

Total read: 8

***

Posts of interest:

I hosted Emily from Follow the Yellow Book Road for the Guest of the Month Club!

I revealed what was in my Book & a Cuppa Swap box!

I helped reveal the cover for The Island by S. Usher Evans!

I shared what February releases I'm dying to get my hands on!

I shared what my dream workspace would look like!

I recapped my first ever book event where I met Alexandra Bracken and Susan Dennard!!

I posted my review of The Girl Who Fell for an amazing blog tour!

I reviewed The Word For Yes, My Second Life, and Blackhearts!

I asked what you thought of novellas!

Looks like I had a pretty sweet blogging month!

***

Books received:

Bought: 10

Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

Illustrated Harry Potter

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken (x2)

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Otherwise acquired: 7

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Front Lines by Michael Grant

Wandering Star by Romina Russell

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Unhinged by A.G. Howard

***

January was a pretty good start to 2016! I made good on my resolution to cut out Waiting on Wednesday, I switched it so I posted once a month with a list of all the books I want to read the following month.

I'm 8/75 on my reading goal.

I feel like I have successfully talked to more people on twitter rather than just lurking.

As for my personal goals, I haven't done WONDERFUL on cutting pop out of my diet, but I have done well! I drank a lot less of it than normal! I still really want it, but hopefully that will pass. I am thinking about maybe adding more fruit to my diet for February!

I did a really horrible job writing down everything I bought. I think I wrote down like three things that I spent money on this month. Hopefully February will be better on that front.

***

I finally got season 2 of The 100 and I need to get that watched ASAP so that next time I go home I can catch up on season 3 and then record the rest of them up at the BF's mom's house. People are SO loose lipped about that show on twitter as if the whole world is on the same episode as they are. RUDE!

I got season 3 & 4 of Game of Thrones from my friend back home and promptly forgot them at my dad's house. :'(

I think I've become more laid-back in my blogging schedule. I had a post set up for everyday of the week when I did my schedule before, but I have cut out Wednesdays and I don't desperately search for things to post on Fridays or Sundays. I like that because then if something comes up that I want to post about, I usually have free days. But at the same time, every time that has happened this month, I already had a post I wanted to put up that day. Oh well.

I finally got back in to playing Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks since the time it made me so angry I almost shook my 3DS, hoping to cause some damage. As long as I don't have to play that godforsaken instrument on that game, it's really not so bad!

I did my taxes and am DYING to get my refund! It's gonna be pretty nice! I'm going to pay my house insurance for the rest of the year, maybe make an extra payment on my car and student loans so I'll be ahead a month in case something comes up with my job. I'm also going to make an EPIC grocery list and hopefully I can convince the BF to drive me to Bismarck so I can buy everything and so I can hit up the bookstore! I also want to implement kind of a meal plan so maybe it won't feel like so much work for me to cook supper at home instead of just scavenging through the cupboards like I've done my whole life. Oh! I'm also gonna buy a legit blender. Like a super fancy ninja one.

Ummmm.... I think that's about all that's new and interesting with me for the month of January!

***

What was the best book you read in January? What was your favorite post that you did? Link me up so I can add you to my commenting 365 challenge list!

Blog Tour: The V-Word by Amber Keyser

Publisher: Beyond Words

Publication Date: February 2nd, 2016

Summary (from Goodreads):

HAVING SEX FOR THE FIRST TIME IS A BIG UNKNOWN. LOTS OF PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO, BUT IS ANYONE TELLING YOU WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE?

The V-Word pulls back the sheets on sex. Queer and straight. Relished and regretted. Funny and exhilarating. The seventeen women in this book (including Christa Desir, Justina Ireland, Sara Ryan, Carrie Mesrobian, Erica Lorraine Scheidt, and Jamia Wilson) write about first-time sex—hot, meaningful, cringe-worthy, gross, forgettable, magnificent, empowering, and transformative.

Whether you’re diving in or whether you’re waiting, we hope these stories will help you chart your own course.

LINKS:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | iBooks | The Book Depository

The V-Word is a book all about having sex for the first time. Which can be a scary thing! There are so many rumors floating around about what it's like and a lot of them are totally not true.

So in my post today, I'm going to compile a short list of first time sex myths and reasons why they're false and my own two cents on the subject!

1. Your first time will be painful.

FALSE

First of all, everyone is different, what one person may find painful, another may not. That being said, sex should not cause you that much pain. It will probably be uncomfortable the first time, but it shouldn't be unbearable. There are a few things that can cause sex to be painful, which are easy to fix! Lack of lubrication, not being turned on enough, your partner being too rough, a need for a different position. Your own fear of it hurting can also cause it to be more painful because you will be more tensed up. Just relax!

2. Sex causes the cherry to pop which is why there is bleeding.

FALSE

Have you ever heard the expression about popping your cherry? That is where the myth of excessive bleeding comes from, but contrary to popular belief, there is nothing to pop. The hymen (or the "cherry") is not something solid that covers the vaginal opening, it is a tissue that stretches across just part of the opening. By the time you are thinking about having sex for the first time, a lot of it should have worn mostly away by normal daily activities, washing, athletics, walking, etc. If your partner is too rough, it can tear a bit and that is where blood could come from! Bleeding can also come from tense muscles, inadequate lubrication, rushed entry, and vaginal abrasions.

If you're worried about your hymen getting in the way, there are things you can do about that! You can use your fingers to stretch it out so it won't be a problem when you get down to it!

Here is a good video on the hymen!

3. You can't get pregnant the first time you have sex.

FALSE

If you are having unprotected sex, you can get pregnant whether its the first or 50th time you're having sex! It's even possible for you to get pregnant before you've gotten your period! Pregnancy is related to ovulation and it is possible to ovulate before beginning to menstruate.

My two cents:

It was a lot harder to find myths than I thought it would be. I mean, there are a lot of articles out there, but all of them seem to have the same few things listed in them. I think that pain and bleeding are probably the most common ones that people worry about going into their first time. That was what I worried about the most! And I even learned a thing or two while doing this post! 

I learned a lot about the hymen! While it totally would make sense and seem obvious that it's not something that just covers the opening, I guess my default though process was that it was. Just because of the myth of popping your cherry. I never questioned that, but now I am that much wiser.

Also I didn't know that get pregnant before you've gotten your period, but I saw that on several official looking websites. That's news to me.

About the Author

Amber J. Keyser is former ballerina and evolutionary biologist who writes both fiction and nonfiction for tweens and teens. Her young adult novel THE WAY BACK FROM BROKEN (Carolrhoda Lab, 2015) is a heart-wrenching story of loss and survival. THE V-WORD (Beyond Words, 2016) is an anthology of personal essays by women about first time sexual experiences. 

Her other books include the nonfiction title SNEAKER CENTURY: A HISTORY OF ATHLETIC SHOES (Twenty-First Century Books, 2015); a picture book, AN ALGONQUIN HEART SONG: PADDLE MY OWN CANOE (FOAP, 2007); two graphic novels about science, THE BASICS OF CELL LIFE WITH MAX AXIOM (Capstone Press, 2010) and DECODING GENES WITH MAX AXIOM (Capstone Press, 2010) as well as a photo-illustrated nonfiction title, ANATOMY OF A PANDEMIC (Capstone Press, 2011). She is the co-author with Kiersi Burkhart of the middle grade series QUARTZ CREEK RANCH (Darby Creek, 2016). More info at www.amberjkeyser.com and on Twitter at @amberjkeyser.

Tour Schedule

2/1: No BS Book Reviews - Spotlight 

2/2: Rattle the Pages - Mythbusting Post

2/3: Sleeps On Tables - Review

2/4: He Said Books or Me - Strategies and Pros/Cons

2/5: Tina the Bookworm - Review

Giveaway

Enter the giveaway for one of three finished copies of The V-Word! US Only!

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Review: Front Lines by Michael Grant

Soldier Girl #1

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: January 26th, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: ARC Trade

Pages: 576

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Code Name Verity, New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant unleashes an epic, genre-bending, and transformative new series that reimagines World War II with girl soldiers fighting on the front lines.

World War II, 1942. A court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. The unproven American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled, the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

Three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering: Rio fights to honor her sister; Frangie needs money for her family; Rainy wants to kill Germans. For the first time they leave behind their homes and families—to go to war.

These three daring young women will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they will discover the roles that define them on the front lines. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.

This book is an alternate history where women are allowed to be drafted and enlist to fight in World War II. The story follows three different girls from different backgrounds who all join the army for very different reasons.

The story mainly follows Rio Richlin, a white girl from Northern California who enlists in the army along with her friend Jenou Castain. Jenou has her sights set on a cushy desk job where she can meet a handsome officer to marry after the war is over. Rio aimlessly follows her friend, thinking maybe she can get a job driving a truck. But she quickly excels in basic training and earns the status of sharpshooter. I really liked Rio, she's quick and sweet, and can easily make people laugh.

Frangie Marr is a young black girl from Oklahoma who enlists so she can help her family who have no source of income because her dad can't work. With her background of patching up wounded stray animals, she joins with hopes of becoming a field medic. 

Finally, Rainy Schulterman is a Jewish girl from New York City who enlists because she wants to kill some Germans. She works in intelligence. She's kinda sassy and really smart and I really liked her.

While you get to see how each one of these very different girls deals with sexism in the army in the 1940's, you also get to see how racism and anti-Semitism are handled, which I found to be interesting.

There is a little bit of romance in this story, but it is not a really big part of the story. Rio has a thing going with a boy from back home who got drafted to be an air man. Beyond that, there really isn't too much romance in this book, which is totally fine.

I really loved the writing of this book. I love WWII historical fiction, so this was awesome. There was a lot of attention paid to sexism, racism, and anti-semitism in the army, which I thought was great. It went to show what each very different girl's experience was like dealing with those issues.

The book kind of developed slowly. Not in a bad way, I didn't think. It goes through what made each girl decide to enlist and what their families thought of their decisions. Then it goes through each one's training experiences and finally how they deal with actually being in the war. So a lot of the action didn't really happen until closer to the end of the book. And this is a pretty long book, but I didn't feel like anything in it was really unnecessary to the story.

The ending isn't really a cliffhanger, but not a lot is resolved. The particular battle that they were fighting is resolved, but that's about it. The whole story is narrated by an unknown girl soldier. You don't find out who she is in this book, but she gives you clues as to where our characters will end up in the next books and gives you hope that you'll find out things that you want to see resolved. I liked that it was narrated like this, I thought it was interesting.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book! If you're like me and you like WWII historical fiction, you'll probably like this. Or if you really liked Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, I think you'll like this as well.

Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Hello friends! Today I have decided that I'm going to do a giveaway! I have been looking for a reason to do one, but I don't think I'll be hitting any milestones or anything and I couldn't think of another excuse to have one, but I feel like it's been awhile!

So here it is! My Valentine's Day giveaway!

Enter the rafflecopter below and entered to win one book (not a preorder) with a Valentine's Day themed word in the title!

Examples:

The LOVE That Split the World by Emily Henry

The KISS of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

The HEART of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

Assassin's HEART by Sarah Ahiers

The ROSE Society by Marie Lu

BlackHEARTS by Nicole Castroman

A Court of Thorns and ROSES by Sarah J. Maas

ROSE Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

You get the picture. Just anything with a reasonably Valentine's-y word in the title. 

Also, US Only! Sorry!

Happy Valentine's Day! <3

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